Research hailing the benefits of the COVID-19 shot keeps ...

What’s Happening

Breaking it down: There was more good health news about the COVID-19 vaccine for infants, kids and adults in December.

There’s still time to get the shot this winter. News Health & Medicine Research hailing the benefits of the COVID-19 shot keeps coming There’s more evidence that the shot lowers risk of preterm birth, hospital stays and death An October 2025 immunization event in a Los Angeles neighborhood had COVID-19 vaccination buttons on hand for the community. (let that sink in)

Studies continue to find benefits for the shot.

The Details

FALLON/Contributor/ By Aimee Cunningham at 3:00 pm this: via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Good health news for babies, kids and adults regarding the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination kept coming in December. Pregnant people who were vaccinated before becoming infected with the coronavirus had a lower risk of severe COVID-19 — and their infants were less likely to be born prematurely — than pregnant people who had not gotten vaccinated before an infection.

Researchers analyzed a Canadian health database of pregnant people diagnosed with COVID-19 from April 2021 to December 2022, covering the Delta and Omicron periods. Only 5 percent in Delta and 1.

Why This Matters

5 percent in Omicron of those vaccinated before diagnosis were hospitalized, compared with 13. 5 percent and 5 percent of those who weren’t vaccinated. The percentage of newborns who were preterm was also lower for people vaccinated during pregnancy, researchers report December 15 in JAMA .

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

Key Takeaways

• For our We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
• The 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine provided kids extra protection from the disease on top of their immunity from past years’ shots, infections or both.
• That means 76 percent fewer of the vaccinated kids had emergency visits.

The Bottom Line

The vaccine was an estimated 76 percent effective against emergency department or urgent care visits for COVID-19–like illness in children nine months to four years old, compared with not getting the vaccine. That means 76 percent fewer of the vaccinated kids had emergency visits.

What’s your take on this whole situation?